And so it begins. . . .

And so it begins. . . .

Succeeding in Iraq also requires defending its territorial integrity - and stabilizing the region in the face of the extremist challenge. This begins with addressing Iran and Syria. These two regimes are allowing terrorists and insurgents to use their territory to move in and out of Iraq. Iran is providing material support for attacks on American troops. We will disrupt the attacks on our forces. We will interrupt the flow of support from Iran and Syria. And we will seek out and destroy the networks providing advanced weaponry and training to our enemies in Iraq.

Bush's stay-the-course "surge" speech last night reinforced my belief that he will not leave office without engaging the U.S. in a war with Iran. It has been the plan, and they will get their new war no matter what it takes.

Here is how I believe the casus belli will be manufactured.

There will be a major incident resulting in a substantial loss of life to U.S. troops. This will coincide with a push by the U.S./U.K./Israeli bloc in the U.N. for substantial sanctions against Iran for its refusal to halt its nuclear (excuse me: nucular) activities. There may even be another Powell-esque Powerpoint show, complete with satellite photos, secretive sources, and repeated use of the phrase "mushroom cloud."

Then it will happen -- the worst loss of U.S. troops yet. It will be bloody, horrific, and substantial -- probably an attack on troops in the Green Zone, killing women as well as men, and the footage of the carnage will be all over YouTube within hours. Bush will promise a "major" prime-time speech.

The smoking gun will be "indisputable" evidence of Iranian planning, material aid, and execution of the attack. I wouldn't be surprised if they discover a remarkably intact Iranian passport in the bloody, smoking rubble.

The mainstream media will do a full-court press for their masters, and the beaten-down, shocked-into-numbness populace will do what it always does best -- nothing.

I pray I am wrong.

But this morning I woke up to this:

US soldiers raided Iranian government offices in the Iraqi city of Irbil today, hours after George Bush pledged to "seek out and destroy" Iran's networks in Iraq.

The troops stormed the building at around 3am, arresting five Iranians and confiscating computers and documents, two senior local Kurdish officials said.

Irbil, 220 miles from the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, is in the Kurdish controlled north of the country.

A resident living near the scene said soldiers used stun bombs in the raid, bringing down an Iranian flag on the roof of the two-storey building. As the operation went on, two helicopters flew overhead, the resident said.

The most important line -- bringing down an Iranian flag. That's the symbolic fuck you, ready-or-not-here-we-come they want to send, loud and clear, to Ahmadinejad.